2021年经济学人 亚特兰大谋杀案--美国反亚裔犯罪何时休(1)

United States

美国版块

Murder in Atlanta

亚特兰大谋杀案

Red lights

红灯停

A gruesome shooting in Atlanta leaves Asian-Americans frightened

亚特兰大发生的一起恐怖枪击案让亚裔美国人陷入恐慌

The stretch of Piedmont Road in northeast Atlanta is usually quiet and dreary¹. Cracked asphalt and faded street signs give the area a rundown look, and blacked-out windows suggest illicit² activity. This is Atlanta’s redlight district. At night, multicoloured lights flash from shopfront windows in a futile³ effort to brighten the atmosphere.

亚特兰大东北部的一段皮埃蒙特道通常安静而沉闷。开裂的柏油路和褪色的路标让这个地区看起来很破旧，单向玻璃昭示着非法活动的存在。这里就是亚特兰大红灯区。到了晚上，店面橱窗中闪烁着的五颜六色的彩灯徒劳地烘托着氛围。

On the evening of March 16th the colourful signage and lights illuminated⁴ a crime scene. Police offi?cers guarded the perimeter⁵ of two spas, on opposite sides of the street, as other offi?cers investigated a pair of shootings that left four people dead. An hour earlier another shooting, at Young’s Asian Massage⁶ in a nearby suburb, also killed four. Six of the eight dead were women of East Asian descent; the alleged⁷ shooter is a white man. Across the country, Asians and Asian-Americans wondered the same thing: was this yet another racially motivated crime against them?

3月16日晚，五颜六色的标志和灯光照亮了犯罪现场。部分警察在街道对面的两个水疗中心周围警戒，其他警察则在调查两起导致四人死亡的枪击案。一小时前，发生在附近郊区杨氏亚洲按摩店的另一起枪击案也造成4人死亡。八名死者中有六名是东亚裔女性；据称，开枪者是一名白人男子。在全国各地的亚洲人和亚裔美国人都想知道同样的事情：这是不是再次针对亚裔群体的种族犯罪？

Shameful⁸ episodes of anti-Asian discrimination litter American history. The Chinese Exclusion⁹ Act, signed into law in 1882, barred Chinese immigrants from citizenship¹⁰ until 1943. During the second world war around 120,000 Japanese Americans were put in concentration camps.

反亚裔歧视的可耻事件充斥着美国历史。于1882年签署成为法律的《排华法案》禁止中国移民成为美国公民，直到1943才废除。在第二次世界大战期间，大约12万名日裔美国人被关进集中营。

1 dreary   

adj.令人沮丧的，沉闷的，单调乏味的

参考例句：

• They live such dreary lives.他们的生活如此乏味。
• She was tired of hearing the same dreary tale of drunkenness and violence.她听够了那些关于酗酒和暴力的乏味故事。

2 illicit   

adj.非法的，禁止的，不正当的

参考例句：

• He had an illicit association with Jane.他和简曾有过不正当关系。
• Seizures of illicit drugs have increased by 30% this year.今年违禁药品的扣押增长了30%。

3 futile   

adj.无效的，无用的，无希望的

参考例句：

• They were killed,to the last man,in a futile attack.因为进攻失败，他们全部被杀，无一幸免。
• Their efforts to revive him were futile.他们对他抢救无效。

4 illuminated   

adj.被照明的；受启迪的

参考例句：

• Floodlights illuminated the stadium. 泛光灯照亮了体育场。
• the illuminated city at night 夜幕中万家灯火的城市

5 perimeter   

n.周边，周长，周界

参考例句：

• The river marks the eastern perimeter of our land.这条河标示我们的土地东面的边界。
• Drinks in hands,they wandered around the perimeter of the ball field.他们手里拿着饮料在球场周围漫不经心地遛跶。

6 massage   

n.按摩，揉；vt.按摩，揉，美化，奉承，篡改数据

参考例句：

• He is really quite skilled in doing massage.他的按摩技术确实不错。
• Massage helps relieve the tension in one's muscles.按摩可使僵硬的肌肉松弛。

7 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

8 shameful   

adj.可耻的，不道德的

参考例句：

• It is very shameful of him to show off.他向人炫耀自己，真不害臊。
• We must expose this shameful activity to the newspapers.我们一定要向报社揭露这一无耻行径。

9 exclusion   

n.拒绝，排除，排斥，远足，远途旅行

参考例句：

• Don't revise a few topics to the exclusion of all others.不要修改少数论题以致排除所有其他的。
• He plays golf to the exclusion of all other sports.他专打高尔夫球，其他运动一概不参加。

10 citizenship   

n.市民权，公民权，国民的义务(身份)

参考例句：

• He was born in Sweden,but he doesn't have Swedish citizenship.他在瑞典出生，但没有瑞典公民身分。
• Ten years later,she chose to take Australian citizenship.十年后，她选择了澳大利亚国籍。